Roller skate



Patented July 7, 1953 Y TED S PATENT "F Y Y fammes '.RLER SKVFIE nnifrkamlermsanta-aaden?. A gn'plieananiyaayzs, 1951,fserialnoezzari This Iirn/"entlon 4relates'` tortillesks.. `and "one object is .the provision "of `ah`ru`bbrcshi6ned 'or spring action Yroller Vskate having a continuous series of rollers or 'wheels "each individually 'and separately Vcushioned topro'vide 'srooth'shockless skating and further 'prv'ided with "adjustable vmeans additionally accommodating ythe skate for gure skating, theskate in use -"s`imu lating the behavior `vand vfnctionn'g 'of an 'ice skate. Y,

vTheskate of 'this inventnls adaptablefor use by the young and old alike, and for Vsmall childrenwwith weak a'rikles itcould be provided with wide rollers or even with double rollers. The instant skate provides far greater comfort to the feet and body of the skater .than is usual in roller skates, 'withtonsequent*greater enduranceiand pleasure to the wearer.

AThe Vabove broad .as wellLas-'addit'ional and more specic objects will be .claried -in the .following description, wherein .charactersnf reference refer to like-numbered parts in 'the A.accompanying drawing. It is to be understood that the drawing is intended-'solely"forthei'purpose of illustration, r'and that it is neither desired nor intended to limit the invention `necessarily rto any or all'of the exact details of construction shown or described except insofar as they may be deemed essential to the invention.

Referring briefly to the drawing, Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a roller skate constructed as an embodiment of this invention, showing also in broken lines the outline of a shoe to which the skate may be attached.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical sectional View of the skate shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view of the skate.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4 4 Of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 but showing..v

instead, a modied cushioning means.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary longitudinal vertical sectional view of the skate, showing the front end thereof modified by the addition of an adjustable tip or bumper whereby the skate is adapted for use in figure skating.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the said adjustable tip or bumper per se.

Referring in detail to the drawing, the numeral I0 indicates the roller skate of this invention, which may, if desired, be provided permanently attached to a shoe II as is the usual custom,A although it might of course also be provided separately from the shoe and equipped with clamps, not shown, for attaching it to the shoes of the user.

The skate vIll comprises the..;pl'ate .I`*2. oniwhich the shoe .I I rests, andfrom 'whichspace'd vertical side walls 'I3 extend downward,'the `walls I3 being .equally spaced from a .longitudinal vertical median,plane through the skate. .Pairs .of longitudinally spaced alignedverticalslot's I".4 are provided `in Vthe opposed walls y'I?3,..,an`d'fthei ends of .shafts or .pins I"5,on which '-wheelsor rollers 'lli are mounted betwenthe' walls '13 'register slidably l'and .rotatably lthe slots ``I`4. ACurved endwalls I1 and Illextend .downwardifromthe front andrearends;respectively, offthe plate I2, integral jw'ith the "lcurvedi ends of haside walls I3, and thus provide together' with' the latter a .housing Vextending downward .fromflthe plate I2 and open 'onlya't ith'e"'bottom. The rollers "I 6 projectV 'through the `bperf"bctt'om "of the said housing, indicatedatl. Atthe for- Ward'end of the housing I9, .a .roller--2'll""is"pro vided, .rotatably'supportedfbetwe'en 'the Walls I3., and` in likefashion la vroller 2l .mountedat the rear` end of the housing.

AIn `the form of `the* .invention illustratedliin Fig. 2, a layer ofsru'bber22..issecured .inlany desired =manner against .the ...underside Lif the platerIZbetwenfthe wallsifl'. A.'I'lhis Vlayer".'2'25is provided above the rollers vII only, and tongues 23 provided at the forward and rearward ends of the layer, which tongues project downward from and integral with the plate I2, confine the rubber layer against forward or rearward movement with respect to the plate. y

Each roller shaft I5 is supported in the lower ends of the opposed arms 24 of an inverted U-shaped frame 25, the arms 24 being vertically slidable between the walls I3 lof the housing I9. The top member 26 of the inverted U-shaped frameor yoke 25, is in position under and inv contact With'the bottom of the rubber layer 22. Further, each top member 216 of the yoke 25 is provided, at the front and rear edges thereof,

' with downturned extensions or anges 21; each such flange 21 of one yoke is in slidable engagement with the adjacent flange 21 of the neighboring yoke, as shown in Fig. 2, the two outermost flanges 21, of the end yokes, being inslidable engagement With the tongues 23. It is thus apparent that each yoke 25 and hence also its roller I6 is separately and independently vertically moveable, so that when a bump in the floor or road surface is met the roller passing over the bump will independently rise while compressing the rubber 22, thereby very greatly reducing the shock to the skate as a whole.

In the modified cushioning structure shown in Fig. 5, the only diierence is that. the rubber cushion is eliminated, and instead a compression spring 21a is mounted between each yoke top 2S and the plate l2; the functioning of the wheels lower edges thereof, rollers mounted between said side walls, each of said rollers having a shaft extending therethrough, the ends of said shaft passing through one of said pairs of aligned slots thereby mounting said rollers vertically slidably between said side walls, each of said rollers. having a yoke including a saddle and depending arms mounted between the roller and said vside Walls1, said yokelgarms having holes in V.the lower. ends thereof,.said .ends of said shaft passing through said holes, and yieldable means vmounted between said saddles and said plate.

, each of said saddles having downwardly extend- 30 including the saddle 32 and the opposed arms 3|, has a serrated block 33 integral on thevsad- Y.

34 are provided in the 3l, and an arcuate dle 32. Aligned openings extremities of the Varms tongue 35 extends upward from thesaddle 3 2- l and is provided with a longitudinal s101536. The member 29 is mounted'""on the housing i9 by registeringthe ends of the front roller shaft 15a in the openings'34 of the yoke arms 3l with the latter positioned outside the side walls I3, vand with the screw 28 passing through the `slot 3B of the tongue 35.v Thus, the bumper 33 is longitudinally slidably mounted onA the frontrof the front wall Ila and is adapted to be lockedy thereagainst by the screw 28 at any'longitudinal position permitted by the length of the slot 36.

It is desirable that thelongitudinal position of the bumper 33 be Variable to accommodate the skate to the individual lto the vkind of'steps the Vskater wishes to indulge in.'4 i v Y Obviously, modifications in form or `structure may be Ymade without departing from the spirit or scopeo'f the invention.

I claim: V

l. A roller skate comprising a plate adapted to have the sole of the shoe of the'user rest thereon; opposed'longitudinal side walls extending downward from the underside of the plate equidistant froml an'irnaginary vertical plane throughthe longitudinal median line of the plate, szfiidside 'walls having spaced pairs of aligned v'vertical slots therethrough near -the figure skater as well as l ing 4Vfianges on the longitudinally opposed transversrepedges-Y thereof, each of said flanges except 1 those at the ends of the skate b'eing'positionedin vertically slidable engagement'with the said iianges'ofl the adjacent saddles, said plate having downwardly extending tongues near the ends of the skate, the outermost of said flanges slidably engaging said tongues,

Y 2. The roller skate s etforth in claim 1, said yieldable means comprising a Vlcontinuous layer of rubber secured to said plate andvhaving a length equal' to the sum of the lengths of said saddles and a width equal to the width of said saddles. Y'

s. Theroiier skate seb` forth in kclaim 1, saidv yieldable means comprising a compressionspring mounted between each of said saddles and'said plate. j

References cited in the me of this pater-it l .Great Britain Aprr28f1910` ERNEST KAHLERT. 

